Husab tailings facility leaked due to pump failure

CLAIMS of a leak at Swakop Uranium's Husab mine's tailings storage facility two months ago were confirmed by an investigation, the company told The Namibian on Friday.

Swakop Uranium's vice president for human resources and business support Percy McCallum said this when responding to follow-up enquiries by The Namibian. The enquiry came after a photo which was posted on social media showed the tailings dam leaking, thereby arousing concerns that this was contaminating the scarce underground water. The tailings facility is where the waste from heavy and radioactive metals washed with sulphuric acid is stored, and fears were that a leak could pose a major environmental threat to the groundwater supply as those metals could increase levels of radon gas which permeates into the groundwater. When brought to the attention of McCallum then, he said the mine was investigating the claims. The investigation was done by the department of environmental affairs, the national radiation protection authority in the Ministry Agriculture, Water and Forestry, and an external environmental consultancy. “The pumps at some of the lined seepage collection ponds partially failed, and with the continuous inflow of the seepage water, it resulted in the lined seepage ponds overflowing onto the unlined surroundings.